Turkey will never get in EU unless it pulls out of Cyprus

Cyprus president Dimitris Christofias has said that Turkey has no chance of getting into the European Union unless it withdraws its army from Cyprus completely, Bulgarian media reports said on May 31 2011.

Christofias made the statement in Sydney during his visit to Australia.

There is an expectation on the part of both the Greek and Turkish Cypriots that there would be a swift resolution to the problem, but the continuous flow of Turkish migrants to the north part of the island, which is under Turkish control, is destabilising the island’s demographics and causing “catastrophic” problems for the future, and for the Turkish community in particular, Christofias said.

“The demographic situation of the Turkish Cypriots has changed dramatically and this is a military crime,” he said.

“We must launch court proceedings against tens of thousands of Turks who have forcibly taken the property of Greeks and expelled from their homes in the north part of the island. This is a crime,” Christofias said.

Christofias is a left-wing Greek Cypriot politician and the current and sixth president of the Republic of Cyprus.

He led the AKEL and is Cyprus’s first, and the European Union’s first and so far only, communist head of state. He won the 2008 Cypriot presidential elections in the second round of voting. Throughout the election campaign, it was his priority to galvanise talks between the Greeks and the Turkish Cypriots to find a solution to the Cyprus dispute and reunify the island.

Cyprus remains separated following the 1974 Turkish invasion that was triggered by a brief Greek-inspired coup.

via Turkey will never get in EU unless it pulls out of Cyprus – Cypriot president – Foreign – The Sofia Echo.